Configurations associated with segmentation of one or more packets for wireless communication

ABSTRACT

Some aspects provide for establishing a radio connection for the wireless communication, determining a configuration for whether to segment one or more packets for the wireless communication using the established radio connection, and communicating the one or more packets based on the determined configuration. Some aspects provide for assembling a first frame comprising one or more packets, transmitting the first frame, determining whether a portion of one or more packets was truncated during the assembling of the first frame, and transmitting a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the first frame. Some aspects provide for receiving a first frame comprising one or more packets, determining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated, and determining whether to ignore as padding at least the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the first frame.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. Non-Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 15/256,375 filed on Sep. 2, 2016. Application Ser.No. 15/256,375 claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/289,055 filed on Jan. 29, 2016, theentire specification of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure relate, generally, to wirelesscommunication systems and, more particularly, to configurationsassociated with segmentation of one or more packets for wirelesscommunication.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide variouscommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple accessnetworks, support communications for multiple users by sharing theavailable network resources. Within such wireless networks a variety ofdata services may be provided, including voice, video, and emails. Thespectrum allocated to such wireless communication networks can includelicensed spectrum and/or unlicensed spectrum. Licensed spectrum isgenerally restricted in its use for wireless communication except forlicensed use as regulated by a governmental body or other authoritywithin a given region. Unlicensed spectrum is generally free to use,within limits, without the purchase or use of such a license. As thedemand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research anddevelopment continue to advance wireless communication technologies tomeet the growing demand for mobile broadband access and to enhance theoverall user experience.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLES

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects ofthe present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding ofsuch aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of allcontemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended neither toidentify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure norto delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of thedisclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

In one aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for wirelesscommunication. In some configurations, the method may includeestablishing a radio connection for the wireless communication,determining a configuration for whether to segment one or more packetsfor the wireless communication using the established radio connection,and communicating the one or more packets based on the determinedconfiguration. In some configurations, the method may include assemblinga first frame comprising one or more packets, transmitting the firstframe, determining whether a portion of one or more packets wastruncated during the assembling or transmitting of the first frame, andtransmitting a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame. In some configurations, themethod may include receiving a first frame comprising one or morepackets, determining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated,and determining whether to ignore as padding at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame. In someconfigurations, the method may include determining whether to selectbetween a segmentation-free operation and a segmentation-allowedoperation and communicating an indication to a peer entity, wherein theindication includes information associated with the determination.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides an apparatus forwireless communication. The apparatus includes a transceiver, a memory,and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the transceiverand the memory. In some configurations, the at least one processor andthe memory may be configured to establish a radio connection for thewireless communication, determine a configuration for whether to segmentone or more packets for the wireless communication using the establishedradio connection, and communicate the one or more packets based on thedetermined configuration. In some configurations, the at least oneprocessor and the memory may be configured to assemble a first framecomprising one or more packets, transmit the first frame, determinewhether a portion of one or more packets was truncated during theassembling or transmitting of the first frame, and transmit a secondframe comprising at least the truncated portion of the one or morepackets of the first frame. In some configurations, the at least oneprocessor and the memory may be configured to receive a first framecomprising one or more packets, determine that a portion of one or morepackets is truncated, and determine whether to ignore as padding atleast the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the firstframe. In some configurations, the at least one processor and the memorymay be configured to determine whether to select between asegmentation-free operation and a segmentation-allowed operation andcommunicate an indication to a peer entity, wherein the indicationincludes information associated with the determination.

In yet another aspect, the present disclosure provides acomputer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, and thecomputer-executable code may include various instructions. In someconfigurations, the instructions may be configured to establish a radioconnection for the wireless communication, determine a configuration forwhether to segment one or more packets for the wireless communicationusing the established radio connection, and communicate the one or morepackets based on the determined configuration. In some configurations,the instructions may be configured to assemble a first frame comprisingone or more packets, transmit the first frame, determine whether aportion of one or more packets was truncated during the assembling ortransmitting of the first frame, and transmit a second frame comprisingat least the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the firstframe. In some configurations, the instructions may be configured toreceive a first frame comprising one or more packets, determine that aportion of one or more packets is truncated, and determine whether toignore as padding at least the truncated portion of the one or morepackets of the first frame. In some configurations, the instructions maybe configured to determine whether to select between a segmentation-freeoperation and a segmentation-allowed operation and communicate anindication to a peer entity, wherein the indication includes informationassociated with the determination.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, the present disclosureprovides an apparatus for wireless communication. In someconfigurations, the apparatus may include means for establishing a radioconnection for the wireless communication, means for determining aconfiguration for whether to segment one or more packets for thewireless communication using the established radio connection, and meansfor communicating the one or more packets based on the determinedconfiguration. In some configurations, the apparatus may include meansfor assembling a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fortransmitting the first frame, means for determining whether a portion ofone or more packets was truncated during the assembling or transmittingof the first frame, and means for transmitting a second frame comprisingat least the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the firstframe. In some configurations, the apparatus may include means forreceiving a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fordetermining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated, andmeans for determining whether to ignore as padding at least thetruncated portion of the one or more packets of the first frame. In someconfigurations, the apparatus may include means for determining whetherto select between a segmentation-free operation and asegmentation-allowed operation and means for communicating an indicationto a peer entity, wherein the indication includes information associatedwith the determination.

These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become more fullyunderstood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows.Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present disclosure willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewingthe following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of thepresent disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Whilefeatures of the present disclosure may be discussed relative to certainembodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present disclosurecan include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein.In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as havingcertain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also beused in accordance with the various embodiments of the disclosurediscussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may bediscussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should beunderstood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in variousdevices, systems, and methods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of various communicationsbetween a scheduling entity and one or more subordinate entitiesaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationof a scheduling entity according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationof the subordinate entity according to aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the scheduling entity incommunication with the subordinate entity in an access network accordingto aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of establishing aconfiguration between the scheduling entity and the subordinate entityaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of various medium accesscontrol (MAC) subheader configurations according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a MAC protocol data unit(PDU) assembled without segmentation according to aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a MAC PDU assembled withsegmentation according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of processes associated withassembly of a MAC PDU with segmentation according to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 10-14 are diagrams illustrating various examples of truncation ofa MAC PDU at a physical (PHY) layer according to aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 15-18 are diagrams illustrating examples of various methods and/orprocesses according to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating examples of a MAC control element (CE)according to aspects of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EXAMPLES

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, certain structures and components are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

The concepts presented throughout this disclosure may be implementedacross a broad variety of telecommunication systems, networkarchitectures, and communication standards. The 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) is a standards body that defines severalwireless communication standards for networks involving an evolvedpacket system (EPS), which may sometimes be referred to as long-termevolution (LTE) network. Evolved versions of an LTE network, such as afifth-generation (5G) network, may provide many different types ofservices and/or applications (e.g., web browsing, video streaming, VoIP,mission critical applications, multi-hop networks, remote operationswith real-time feedback, tele-surgery, and others). One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that the aspects described herein maybe implemented in various technologies without deviating from the scopeof the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram 100 illustrating an example of variouscommunications between a scheduling entity 102 and one or moresubordinate entities 104 according to aspects of the present disclosure.Broadly, the scheduling entity 102 is a node or device responsible forscheduling traffic in a wireless communication network, includingvarious downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmissions. The schedulingentity 102 may sometimes be referred to as a scheduler, and/or any othersuitable term without deviating from the scope of the presentdisclosure. The scheduling entity 102 may be, or may reside within, abase station, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radiotransceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set, an extendedservice set, an access point, a Node B, a user equipment (UE), a meshnode, a relay, a peer, and/or any other suitable device.

Broadly, the subordinate entity 104 is a node or device that receivesscheduling and/or control information, including but not limited toscheduling grants, synchronization or timing information, or othercontrol information from another entity in the wireless communicationnetwork, such as the scheduling entity 102. The subordinate entity 104may be a referred to as a schedulee, and/or any other suitable termwithout deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Thesubordinate entity 104 may be, or may reside within, a UE, a cellularphone, a smart phone, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobileunit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobiledevice, a wireless device, a wireless communications device, a remotedevice, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobileterminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal,a user agent, a mobile client, a client, a mesh node, a peer, a sessioninitiation protocol phone, a laptop, a notebook, a netbook, a smartbook,a personal digital assistant, a satellite radio, a global positioningsystem device, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audioplayer, a camera, a game console, an entertainment device, a vehiclecomponent, a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, ahealth or fitness tracker, etc.), an appliance, a sensor, a vendingmachine, and/or any other suitable device.

As used herein, ‘control channel(s)’ may sometimes be used tocommunicate grant information. The scheduling entity 102 may transmit DLdata channel(s) 106 and DL control channel(s) 108. The subordinateentity 104 may transmit UL data channel(s) 110 and UL control channel(s)112. The channels illustrated in FIG. 1 are not necessarily all of thechannels that may be utilized by the scheduling entity 102 and/or thesubordinate entity 104. Those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that other channels may be utilized in addition to thoseillustrated, such as other data, control, and feedback channels. As usedherein, the term ‘downlink’ or ‘DL’ may refer to a point-to-multipointtransmission originating at the scheduling entity 102, and the term‘uplink’ or ‘UL’ may refer to a point-to-point transmission originatingat the subordinate entity 104. According to aspects of the presentdisclosure, the term(s) ‘communicate’ and/or ‘communicating’ refer totransmission and/or reception. One of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that many types of technologies may perform suchcommunication without deviating from the scope of the presentdisclosure. As used herein, the term ‘DL-centric time-division duplex(TDD) subframe’ refers to a TDD subframe in which a substantialproportion (e.g., majority) of the information is communicated in the DLdirection, even though some of the information may be communicated inthe UL direction. Also, the term ‘UL-centric TDD subframe’ refers to aTDD subframe in which a substantial proportion (e.g., majority) of theinformation is communicated in the UL direction, even though someinformation may be communicated in the DL direction.

FIG. 2 is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation of the scheduling entity 102 according to various aspectsof the present disclosure. The scheduling entity 102 may include atransceiver 210. The transceiver 210 may be configured to receive dataand/or transmit data in communication with another apparatus. Thetransceiver 210 provides a means for communicating with anotherapparatus via a wired or wireless transmission medium. The transceiver210 may be configured to perform such communications using various typesof technologies without deviating from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The scheduling entity 102 may also include a memory 214, one or moreprocessors 204, a computer-readable medium 206, and a bus interface 208.The bus interface 208 may provide an interface between a bus 216 and thetransceiver 210. The memory 214, the one or more processors 204, thecomputer-readable medium 206, and the bus interface 208 may be connectedtogether via the bus 216. The processor 204 may be communicativelycoupled to the transceiver 210 and/or the memory 214.

The processor 204 may include a communication circuit 220, a controlcircuit 221, an assembly circuit 222, and/or other circuits 223. In someconfigurations, such circuits 220-223 may individually or in somecombination include various hardware components and/or may performvarious algorithms that provide the means for establishing a radioconnection for the wireless communication, means for determining aconfiguration for whether to segment one or more packets for thewireless communication using the established radio connection, and/ormeans for communicating the one or more packets based on the determinedconfiguration. In some configurations, such circuits 220-223 mayindividually or in some combination include various hardware componentsand/or may perform various algorithms that provide the means forassembling a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fortransmitting the first frame, means for determining whether a portion ofone or more packets was truncated during the assembling or transmittingof the first frame, and/or means for transmitting a second framecomprising at least the truncated portion of the one or more packets ofthe first frame. In some configurations, such circuits 220-223 mayindividually or in some combination include various hardware componentsand/or may perform various algorithms that provide the means forreceiving a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fordetermining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated, meansfor determining whether to ignore as padding at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame, and/or means forreceiving a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame.

The foregoing description provides a non-limiting example of theprocessor 204 of the scheduling entity 102. Although various circuits220, 221, 222 are described above, one of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that the processor 204 may also include various othercircuits 223 that are in addition and/or alternative(s) to theaforementioned circuits 220, 221, 222. Such other circuits 223 mayprovide the means for performing any one or more of the functions,methods, processes, features and/or aspects described herein.

The computer-readable medium 206 may store computer-executable code, andthe computer-executable code may include various instructions configuredto perform various functions and/or enable various aspects describedherein. The computer-executable code may be executed by various hardwarecomponents (e.g., the processor 204 and/or any of its circuits 220, 221,222, 223). The computer-executable instructions may be a part of varioussoftware programs and/or software modules.

The computer-executable code may include communication instructions 240,control instructions, assembly instructions, and/or other instructions243. In some configurations, the instructions 240-243 individually or insome combination may be configured to establish a radio connection forthe wireless communication, determine a configuration for whether tosegment one or more packets for the wireless communication using theestablished radio connection, and/or communicate the one or more packetsbased on the determined configuration. In some configurations, theinstructions may be configured to assemble a first frame comprising oneor more packets, transmit the first frame, determine whether a portionof one or more packets was truncated during the assembling ortransmitting of the first frame, and/or transmit a second framecomprising at least the truncated portion of the one or more packets ofthe first frame. In some configurations, the instructions may beconfigured to receive a first frame comprising one or more packets,determine that a portion of one or more packets is truncated, and/ordetermine whether to ignore as padding at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame.

The foregoing description provides a non-limiting example of thecomputer-readable medium 206 of the scheduling entity 102. Althoughvarious computer-executable instructions 240, 241, 242 are describedabove, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thecomputer-readable medium 206 may also include various othercomputer-executable instructions 243 that are in addition and/oralternative(s) to the aforementioned computer-executable instructions240, 241, 242. Such other computer-executable instructions 243 may beconfigured for any one or more of the functions, methods, processes,features and/or aspects described herein.

The memory 214 may include various memory modules. The memory modulesmay be configured to store, and have read therefrom, various valuesand/or information by the processor 204, or any of its circuits 220,221, 222, 223. The memory modules may also be configured to store, andhave read therefrom, various values and/or information upon execution ofthe computer-executable code included in the computer-readable medium206, or any of its instructions 240, 241, 242, 243. The memory 214 mayinclude configuration information 230. The configuration information 230may include various types, quantities, configurations, arrangements,settings, parameters, and/or forms of information corresponding to aconfiguration for whether to segment one or more packets during assemblyof a frame. The memory may also include criteria information 231. Thecriteria information 231 may include data and/or information associatedwith one or more criteria that may be utilized by an apparatus fordetermining whether to segment the one or more packets. Non-limitingexamples of such criteria may include a transport block size threshold,a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a data rate threshold, a packetsize threshold, and/or a packet waste percentile threshold. Althoughvarious types of data of the memory 214 are described above, one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the memory 214 may alsoinclude various other data that are in addition and/or alternative(s) tothe aforementioned data 230, 231. Such other data may be associated withany one or more of the functions, methods, processes, features and/oraspects described herein.

One of ordinary skill in the art will also understand that thescheduling entity 102 may include alternative and/or additional featureswithout deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, an element,or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may beimplemented with a processing system that includes one or moreprocessors 204. Examples of the one or more processors 204 includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs),field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, andother suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalitydescribed throughout this disclosure. The processing system may beimplemented with a bus architecture, represented generally by the bus216 and bus interface 208. The bus 216 may include any number ofinterconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific applicationof the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus 216may link together various circuits including the one or more processors204, the memory 214, and the computer-readable medium 206. The bus 216may also link various other circuits such as timing sources,peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits.

The one or more processors 204 may be responsible for managing the bus216 and general processing, including the execution of software storedon the computer-readable medium 206. The software, when executed by theone or more processors 204, causes the processing system to perform thevarious functions described below for any one or more apparatuses. Thecomputer-readable medium 206 may also be used for storing data that ismanipulated by the one or more processors 204 when executing software.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instructionsets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, softwaremodules, applications, software applications, software packages,routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution,procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Thesoftware may reside on the computer-readable medium 206.

The computer-readable medium 206 may be a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumincludes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk,floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disc (CD)or a digital versatile disc (DVD)), a smart card, a flash memory device(e.g., a card, a stick, or a key drive), a random access memory (RAM), aread only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable PROM(EPROM), an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), a register, a removabledisk, and any other suitable medium for storing software and/orinstructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. Thecomputer-readable medium 206 may also include, by way of example, acarrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium fortransmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and readby a computer. The computer-readable medium 206 may reside in theprocessing system, external to the processing system, or distributedacross multiple entities including the processing system. Thecomputer-readable medium 206 may be embodied in a computer programproduct. By way of example and not limitation, a computer programproduct may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials.Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement thedescribed functionality presented throughout this disclosure dependingon the particular application and the overall design constraints imposedon the overall system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation of the subordinate entity 104 according to variousaspects of the present disclosure. The subordinate entity 104 mayinclude a user interface 312. The user interface 312 may be configuredto receive one or more inputs from a user of the subordinate entity 104.In some configurations, the user interface 312 may be a keypad, adisplay, a speaker, a microphone, a joystick, and/or any other suitablecomponent of the subordinate entity 104. The user interface 312 mayexchange data via the bus interface 308. The subordinate entity 104 mayalso include a transceiver 310. The transceiver 310 may be configured toreceive data and/or transmit data in communication with anotherapparatus. The transceiver 310 provides a means for communicating withanother apparatus via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Thetransceiver 310 may be configured to perform such communications usingvarious types of technologies without deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The subordinate entity 104 may also include a memory 314, one or moreprocessors 304, a computer-readable medium 306, and a bus interface 308.The bus interface 308 may provide an interface between a bus 316 and thetransceiver 310. The memory 314, the one or more processors 304, thecomputer-readable medium 306, and the bus interface 308 may be connectedtogether via the bus 316. The processor 304 may be communicativelycoupled to the transceiver 310 and/or the memory 314.

The processor 304 may include a communication circuit 320, a controlcircuit 321, an assembly circuit 322, and/or other circuits 323. In someconfigurations, such circuits 320-323 may individually or in somecombination include various hardware components and/or may performvarious algorithms that provide the means for establishing a radioconnection for the wireless communication, means for determining aconfiguration for whether to segment one or more packets for thewireless communication using the established radio connection, and/ormeans for communicating the one or more packets based on the determinedconfiguration. In some configurations, such circuits 320-323 mayindividually or in some combination include various hardware componentsand/or may perform various algorithms that provide the means forassembling a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fortransmitting the first frame, means for determining whether a portion ofone or more packets was truncated during the assembling or transmittingof the first frame, and/or means for transmitting a second framecomprising at least the truncated portion of the one or more packets ofthe first frame. In some configurations, such circuits 320-323 mayindividually or in some combination include various hardware componentsand/or may perform various algorithms that provide the means forreceiving a first frame comprising one or more packets, means fordetermining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated, meansfor determining whether to ignore as padding at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame, and/or means forreceiving a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame. In some configurations, suchcircuits 320-323 may individually or in some combination include varioushardware components and/or may perform various algorithms that providethe means for determining whether to select between a segmentation-freeoperation and a segmentation-allowed operation and/or the means forcommunicating an indication to a peer entity, wherein the indicationincludes information associated with the determination.

The foregoing description provides a non-limiting example of theprocessor 304 of the scheduling entity 102. Although various circuits320, 321, 322 are described above, one of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that the processor 304 may also include various othercircuits 323 that are in addition and/or alternative(s) to theaforementioned circuits 320, 321, 322. Such other circuits 323 mayprovide the means for performing any one or more of the functions,methods, processes, features and/or aspects described herein.

The computer-readable medium 306 may store computer-executable code, andthe computer-executable code may include various instructions configuredto perform various functions and/or enable various aspects describedherein. The computer-executable code may be executed by various hardwarecomponents (e.g., the processor 304 and/or any of its circuits 320, 321,322, 323). The computer-executable instructions may be a part of varioussoftware programs and/or software modules.

The computer-executable code may include communication instructions 340,control instructions, assembly instructions, and/or other instructions343. In some configurations, the instructions 340-343 individually or insome combination may be configured to establish a radio connection forthe wireless communication, determine a configuration for whether tosegment one or more packets for the wireless communication using theestablished radio connection, and/or communicate the one or more packetsbased on the determined configuration. In some configurations, theinstructions 340-343 may be configured to assemble a first framecomprising one or more packets, transmit the first frame, determinewhether a portion of one or more packets was truncated during theassembling or transmitting of the first frame, and/or transmit a secondframe comprising at least the truncated portion of the one or morepackets of the first frame. In some configurations, the instructions340-343 may be configured to receive a first frame comprising one ormore packets, determine that a portion of one or more packets istruncated, and/or determine whether to ignore as padding at least thetruncated portion of the one or more packets of the first frame. In someconfigurations, the instructions 340-343 may be configured to determinewhether to select between a segmentation-free operation and asegmentation-allowed operation and/or communicate an indication to apeer entity, wherein the indication includes information associated withthe determination.

The foregoing description provides a non-limiting example of thecomputer-readable medium 306 of the scheduling entity 102. Althoughvarious computer-executable instructions 340, 341, 342 are describedabove, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thecomputer-readable medium 306 may also include various othercomputer-executable instructions 343 that are in addition and/oralternative(s) to the aforementioned computer-executable instructions340, 341, 342. Such other computer-executable instructions 343 may beconfigured for any one or more of the functions, methods, processes,features and/or aspects described herein.

The memory 314 may include various memory modules. The memory modulesmay be configured to store, and have read therefrom, various valuesand/or information by the processor 304, or any of its circuits 320,321, 322, 323. The memory modules may also be configured to store, andhave read therefrom, various values and/or information upon execution ofthe computer-executable code included in the computer-readable medium306, or any of its instructions 340, 341, 342, 343. The memory 314 mayinclude configuration information 330. The configuration information 330may include various types, quantities, configurations, arrangements,settings, parameters, and/or forms of information corresponding to aconfiguration for whether to segment one or more packets during assemblyof a frame. The memory may also include criteria information 331. Thecriteria information 331 may include data and/or information associatedwith one or more criteria that may be utilized by an apparatus fordetermining whether to segment the one or more packets. Non-limitingexamples of such criteria may include a transport block size threshold,a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a data rate threshold, a packetsize threshold, and/or a packet waste percentile threshold. Althoughvarious types of data of the memory 314 are described above, one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the memory 314 may alsoinclude various other data that are in addition and/or alternative(s) tothe aforementioned data 330, 331. Such other data may be associated withany one or more of the functions, methods, processes, features and/oraspects described herein.

One of ordinary skill in the art will also understand that thesubordinate entity 104 may include alternative and/or additionalfeatures without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure, an element,or any portion of an element, or any combination of elements may beimplemented with a processing system that includes one or moreprocessors 304. Examples of the one or more processors 304 includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, DSPs, FPGAs, PLDs, state machines,gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. The processing system may be implemented with a busarchitecture, represented generally by the bus 316 and bus interface308. The bus 316 may include any number of interconnecting buses andbridges depending on the specific application of the processing systemand the overall design constraints. The bus 316 may link togethervarious circuits including the one or more processors 304, the memory314, and the computer-readable medium 306. The bus 316 may also linkvarious other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltageregulators, and power management circuits.

The one or more processors 304 may be responsible for managing the bus316 and general processing, including the execution of software storedon the computer-readable medium 306. The software, when executed by theone or more processors 304, causes the processing system to perform thevarious functions described below for any one or more apparatuses. Thecomputer-readable medium 306 may also be used for storing data that ismanipulated by the one or more processors 304 when executing software.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instructionsets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, softwaremodules, applications, software applications, software packages,routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution,procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Thesoftware may reside on the computer-readable medium 306.

The computer-readable medium 306 may be a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumincludes, by way of example, a magnetic storage device (e.g., hard disk,floppy disk, magnetic strip), an optical disk (e.g., a CD or a DVD), asmart card, a flash memory device (e.g., a card, a stick, or a keydrive), a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, an EEPROM, a register, aremovable disk, and any other suitable medium for storing softwareand/or instructions that may be accessed and read by a computer. Thecomputer-readable medium 306 may also include, by way of example, acarrier wave, a transmission line, and any other suitable medium fortransmitting software and/or instructions that may be accessed and readby a computer. The computer-readable medium 306 may reside in theprocessing system, external to the processing system, or distributedacross multiple entities including the processing system. Thecomputer-readable medium 306 may be embodied in a computer programproduct. By way of example and not limitation, a computer programproduct may include a computer-readable medium in packaging materials.Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement thedescribed functionality presented throughout this disclosure dependingon the particular application and the overall design constraints imposedon the overall system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram 400 of the scheduling entity 102 in communicationwith the subordinate entity 104 in an access network according toaspects of the present disclosure. In the DL, upper layer packets fromthe core network are provided to a controller/processor 475. Thecontroller/processor 475 implements the functionality of the L2 layer.In the DL, the controller/processor 475 provides header compression,ciphering, packet segmentation and reordering, multiplexing betweenlogical and transport channels, and radio resource allocations to thesubordinate entity 104 based on various priority metrics. Thecontroller/processor 475 is also responsible for hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARQ) operations, retransmission of lost packets, and signalingto the subordinate entity 104.

The transmit (TX) processor 416 implements various signal processingfunctions for the L1 layer (i.e., physical layer). The signal processingfunctions include coding and interleaving to facilitate forward errorcorrection (FEC) at the subordinate entity 104 and mapping to signalconstellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binaryphase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols are then split into parallelstreams. Each stream is then mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexedwith a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequencydomain, and then combined together using an Inverse Fast FourierTransform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domainOFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to producemultiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 474may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme, as well asfor spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from areference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted by thesubordinate entity 104. Each spatial stream may then be provided to adifferent antenna 420 via a separate transmitter 418TX. Each transmitter418TX may modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream fortransmission.

Each receiver 418RX may be configured to receive wireless signals ofvarious types, schemes, configurations, and/or modulations. The RXprocessor 470 may be configured to receive, decode, demodulate, and/orotherwise process any UL signal that is received by the receiver 418RX.In some examples, the UL signal is adapted for orthogonalfrequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), which is a multi-userversion of the modulation scheme referred to as orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). In some examples, the UL signalis adapted for single-carrier frequency-division multiple access(SC-FDMA). Such signals may even co-exist in some examples. In otherwords, the RX processor 470 and the receiver 418RX may perform ULcommunication using waveforms that may co-exist in OFDMA and SC-FDMA.

At the subordinate entity 104, each receiver 454RX receives a signalthrough its respective antenna 452. Each receiver 454RX recoversinformation modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information tothe receive (RX) processor 456. The RX processor 456 implements varioussignal processing functions of the L1 layer. The RX processor 456 mayperform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatialstreams destined for the subordinate entity 104. If multiple spatialstreams are destined for the subordinate entity 104, they may becombined by the RX processor 456 into a single OFDM symbol stream. TheRX processor 456 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from thetime-domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform(FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbolstream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on eachsubcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated bydetermining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted bythe scheduling entity 102. These soft decisions may be based on channelestimates computed by the channel estimator 458. The soft decisions arethen decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signalsthat were originally transmitted by the scheduling entity 102 on thephysical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to thecontroller/processor 459.

The controller/processor 459 implements the L2 layer. Thecontroller/processor can be associated with a memory 460 that storesprogram codes and data. The memory 460 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 459provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processingto recover upper layer packets from the core network. The upper layerpackets are then provided to a data sink 462, which represents all theprotocol layers above the L2 layer. Various control signals may also beprovided to the data sink 462 for L3 processing. Thecontroller/processor 459 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or negative acknowledgement (NACK) protocol to support HARQoperations.

In the UL, a data source 467 is used to provide upper layer packets tothe controller/processor 459. The data source 467 represents allprotocol layers above the L2 layer. Similar to the functionalitydescribed in connection with the DL transmission by the schedulingentity 102, the controller/processor 459 implements the L2 layer for theuser plane and the control plane by providing header compression,ciphering, packet segmentation and reordering, and multiplexing betweenlogical and transport channels based on radio resource allocations bythe scheduling entity 102. The controller/processor 459 is alsoresponsible for HARQ operations, retransmission of lost packets, andsignaling to the scheduling entity 102.

Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 458 from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the scheduling entity 102 may be usedby the TX processor 468 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the TX processor 468 may be provided to different antenna452 via separate transmitters 454TX. Each transmitter 454TX may modulatean RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

Each transmitter 454TX may be configured to transmit wireless signals ofvarious types, schemes, configurations, and/or modulations. The TXprocessor 468 may be configured to generate, encode, modulate, and/orotherwise produce any UL signal that is transmitted by the transmitter454TX. In some examples, the UL signal is adapted for OFDMA. In someexamples, the UL signal is adapted for SC-FDMA. Such signals may evenco-exist in some examples. In other words, the TX processor 468 and thetransmitter 454TX may perform UL communication using waveforms thatco-exist in OFDMA and SC-FDMA.

The UL transmission is processed at the scheduling entity 102 in amanner similar to that described in connection with the receiverfunction at the subordinate entity 104. Each receiver 418RX receives asignal through its respective antenna 420. Each receiver 418RX recoversinformation modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information toa RX processor 470. The RX processor 470 may implement the L1 layer.

The controller/processor 475 implements the L2 layer. Thecontroller/processor 475 can be associated with a memory 476 that storesprogram codes and data. The memory 476 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the control/processor 475 providesdemultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processingto recover upper layer packets from the subordinate entity 104. Upperlayer packets from the controller/processor 475 may be provided to thecore network. The controller/processor 475 is also responsible for errordetection using an ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

A medium access control (MAC) protocol may perform various functionswithout deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. For example,such functions may include multiplexing MAC service data units (SDUs)from one or more different logical channels onto transport blocks to bedelivered to the physical (PHY) layer on transport channels. As anotherexample, such functions may include demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from oneor more different logical channels from transport blocks delivered fromthe physical layer on transport channels. Such functions may alsoinclude priority handling between logical channels of a particular MACentity and/or logical channel prioritization. An overview of some ofthese functions is provided below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Subordinate Scheduling MAC function Entity Entity DL ULMultiplexing X X X X Demultiplexing X X X X Priority handling between XX X logical channels of one MAC entity Logical Channel X Xprioritisation

FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of establishing aconfiguration between one apparatus (e.g., the scheduling entity 102)and another apparatus (e.g., the subordinate entity 104) according toaspects of the present disclosure. One apparatus (e.g., the schedulingentity 102) may transmit a configuration message 502 to anotherapparatus (e.g., the subordinate entity 104). In some configurations,the configuration message 502 may be a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message, which may be transmitted upon orafter establishing the connection. In some configurations, theconfiguration message 502 may be a MAC control element (CE), which maybe transmitted any time that a connection is available. In someexamples, the configuration message 502 may include information forconfiguring (or de-configuring, re-configuring, etc.) various parametersand/or settings (e.g., one or more criteria and/or thresholds). In someexamples, the configuration message 502 may include information foractivating (or deactivating) a segmentation-free (orsegmentation-allowed) operation or mode. In some examples, theconfiguration message 502 may include information and/or commandsconfigured to modify an RRC connection utilized by an apparatus (e.g.,the subordinate entity 104). In some examples, the configuration message502 may establish, modify, or release radio bearers. In some examples,the configuration message 502 may setup, modify, or release variousmeasurements related to wireless communication. In some examples, theconfiguration message 502 may be configured various handover parameters,settings, and/or thresholds. After receiving the configuration message502, one apparatus (e.g., the subordinate entity 104) transmits aresponse message 504 to another apparatus (e.g., the scheduling entity102). In some configurations, the response message 504 may be a RRCconnection reconfiguration complete message, which may be transmitted inresponse to the RRC connection reconfiguration message. In someconfigurations, the response message 504 may be a HARQ ACK, which may betransmitted in response to the MAC CE. Once data is available fortransmission and a corresponding grant is received, one apparatus (e.g.,the subordinate entity 104) transmits UL data 506 to another apparatus(e.g., the scheduling entity 102).

In certain circumstances, some data may need to be transmittedrelatively quickly after receiving the grant. In other words, somecircumstances may require data to be transmitted before there is enoughtime to perform some relatively complex, time-consuming, and/orprocessing-intensive operations at one or more intermediate layers. Putanother way, some circumstances may impose throughput requirements thatoutweigh some processing considerations at certain intermediate layers.For instance, some data may need to be transmitted before somemulti-layer processing is complete. Some non-limiting examples ofmulti-layer processing include radio link control (RLC) segmentation,RLC aggregation, MAC segmentation, MAC aggregation, and/or various otherrelated processes. For example, the amount of time necessary to performRLC segmentation may exceed the amount of time allowed for transmissionof some data for which the grant has been received. Put another way,some data may need to be transmitted within a particular period of timeafter receiving the grant, and that particular period of time is lessthan the amount of time necessary to perform some multi-layer processing(e.g., RLC or MAC segmentation). Accordingly, there may existcircumstances in which data may need to be transmitted withoutperforming (e.g., bypassing) at least one multi-layer processingoperation (e.g., RLC or MAC segmentation). Although various examplesdescribed in the present disclosure may refer to segmentation at the RLCand MAC layers, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand thataspects of the present disclosure may be applied to various additionalor alternative processes performed at additional or alternative layerswithout deviating from the present disclosure. However, some existingsystems may not have configurations for determining whether to segmentone or more packets (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer). In other words, someexisting systems may either always perform segmentation (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer) or always do not perform segmentation (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer); however, such existing systems may not provide criteriafor an apparatus to determine whether to segment one or more packets(e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer). Put another way, some existing systems maynot enable a switching between a segmentation-allowed operation and asegmentation-free operation. As such, some existing systems may benefitfrom features that enable certain high throughput, low latency, and/ormission critical communications.

In comparison to some existing systems, aspects of the presentdisclosure provide for determining a configuration for whether tosegment one or more packets (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) andcommunicating the one or more packets based on that determinedconfiguration. Put another way, aspects of the present disclosureprovide for a switching between a segmentation-allowed operation and asegmentation-free operation based on certain criteria. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that the aforementioned ‘determining’of the configuration of whether to segment one or more packets (e.g., atthe RLC/MAC layer) may be performed by the subordinate entity 104 and/orthe scheduling entity 102 without deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure. With respect to the scheduling entity 102, the‘determining’ of the configuration of whether to segment one or morepackets (e.g., at the RLC layer) may include transmitting theconfiguration of whether to segment one or more packets (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer) to the subordinate entity 104 (e.g., in the configurationmessage 502). With respect to the subordinate entity 104, the‘determining’ of the configuration of whether to segment one or morepackets (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may include receiving an indicationof whether to segment one or more packets (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer)from the scheduling entity 102 (e.g., in the configuration message 502).In some configurations, such an indication may be a control signal, anin-band signal, and/or any other suitable communication.

In some examples, the configuration may include one or more criteria.When the one or more criteria are satisfied, segmentation (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer) may be disallowed. When the one or more criteria areunsatisfied, segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may be allowed.The criteria may correspond to various settings, configurations, orparameters associated with the wireless communication of those one ormore packets without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.Although some non-limiting examples of such criteria may be describedherein, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that additionaland alternative criteria exist within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Some non-limiting examples of such criteria correspond to variousthresholds. An example of such a threshold is a transport block sizethreshold. When the estimated transport block size is greater than thetransport block size threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAClayer) may be disallowed. Conversely, when the estimated transport blocksize is less than the transport block size threshold, then segmentation(e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may be allowed. Another example of such athreshold is a bandwidth waste percentile threshold. If an estimatedbandwidth waste is less than the bandwidth waste percentile threshold,then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may be disallowed.Conversely, if an estimated bandwidth waste is greater than thebandwidth waste percentile threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer) may be allowed. Yet another example of such a thresholdis a data rate threshold. If an estimated data rate is greater than thedata rate threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC layer) may bedisallowed. Conversely, if an estimated data rate is greater than thedata rate threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) maybe allowed. An additional example of such a threshold is a packet sizethreshold. If an estimated packet size is greater than the packet sizethreshold, then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may bedisallowed. Conversely, if an estimated packet size is smaller than thepacket size threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer)may be allowed. A further example of such a threshold is a packet wastepercentile threshold. If an estimated packet waste is less than thepacket waste percentile threshold, then segmentation (e.g., at theRLC/MAC layer) may be disallowed. Conversely, if an estimated packetwaste is greater than the packet waste percentile threshold, thensegmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer) may be allowed. An additionalexample of such a threshold is a processing load threshold. For example,a computer, processor, circuit, central processing unit (CPU), or othersimilar component of an apparatus (e.g., scheduling entity 102 and/orsubordinate entity 104) may have a certain load (e.g., a certain amountof processes) that it can handle (e.g., process) at a particular periodof time. The processing load threshold may be equal to that load or anylesser amount (e.g., a percentage of) that load without deviating fromthe scope of the present disclosure.

In some examples, the configuration may be associated with a particulardata flow. A particular data flow may include one or more bearers (e.g.,radio bearers). Also, a particular bearer may be associated with one ormore data flows. Two bearers may have different thresholds fordetermining whether to perform segmentation. For example, one bearer mayhave a particular threshold value (e.g., x) while another bearer mayhave a different threshold value (e.g., y, wherein x≠y). As such, it maybe possible that one bearer sometimes performs segmentation whileanother bearer does not perform segmentation.

The aforementioned configurations may be implemented in various mannerswithout necessarily deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.Although some options of such configurations are provided herein, one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that other options may existwithin the scope of the present disclosure. One option (“Option 1”) mayinvolve each bearer (e.g., radio bearer) or logical channel configuredto allow or disallow (e.g., prohibit) segmentation. For example, eachbearer may have a value of ‘true’ (indicating that traffic for thatbearer may be segmented; i.e., segmentation-allowed) or ‘false’(indicating that that traffic for that bearer may not be segmented;i.e., segmentation-free). In such circumstances, the bearer may beassociated with the PHY channels.

In such circumstances, the apparatus may implement or utilize at leastsome of the configurations shown under “Option 1” provided below. Suchconfigurations may correspond to the Drb-ToAddModList of theRadioResourceConfigDedicated information element defined in TS 36.331.

Option 1 Drb-ToAddModList Information Element -- ASN1STARTDRB-ToAddModList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxDRB)) OF DRB- ToAddModDRB-ToAddMod ::= SEQUENCE {  eps-BearerIdentity  INTEGER (0..15)OPTIONAL,  -- Cond DRB-Setup  drb-Identity DRB-Identity,  pdcp-Config PDCP-Config OPTIONAL,  -- Cond PDCP  rlc-Config  RLC-Config OPTIONAL, -- Cond Setup  logicalChannelIdentity  INTEGER (3..10) OPTIONAL,  --Cond DRB-Setup  logicalChannelConfig  LogicalChannelConfig OPTIONAL,  --Cond Setup  segmentationAllowed  BOOLEAN  ..., } -- ASN1STOP

Drb-ToAddModList field descriptions Segmentation-allowed For DRBs thesegmentation-allowed is used to indicate whether data for thecorresponding DRB is allowed to be segmented

Another option (“Option 2”) may involve each apparatus (e.g.,subordinate entity 104 and/or scheduling entity 102) being configured toallow or disallow (e.g., prohibit) segmentation. In such an option, allbearers associated with that apparatus may follow the sameconfiguration. When segmentation is allowed (e.g., during asegmentation-allowed operation), one or more thresholds may beconfigured, and the apparatus may uses the one or more thresholds todetermine whether segmentation should be performed for a given MACprotocol data unit (PDU). In such circumstances, theRadioResourceConfigDedicated information element defined in TS 36.331may include at least some of the configurations shown under “Option 2”provided below.

Option 2 RadioResourceConfigDedicated Information ElementRadioResourceConfigDedicated ::=   SEQUENCE {  srb-ToAddModList SRB-ToAddModList OPTIONAL,   -- Cond HO-Conn  drb-ToAddModList DRB-ToAddModList OPTIONAL,   -- Cond HO-toEUTRA  drb-ToReleaseList DRB-ToReleaseList OPTIONAL,   -- Need ON  mac-MainConfig  CHOICE {explicitValue   MAC-MainConfig, defaultValue  NULL  --  } OPTIONAL, CondHO-toEUTRA2  MACSegmentationCOnfig ::= CHOICE {   segmentation-free,segmentation-allowed SegmentationAllowed-Config  }  sps-Config SPS-Config OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON  physicalConfigDedicated  PhysicalConfigDedicated  OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON  ...,  [[rlf-TimersAndConstants-r9  RLF-TimersAndConstants-r9  OPTIONAL  -- NeedON  ]],  [[ measSubframePatternPCell-r10  MeasSubframePatternPCell-r10 OPTIONAL  -- Need ON  ]],  [[ neighCellsCRS-Info-r11 NeighCellsCRS-Info-r11  OPTIONAL  -- Need ON  ]] ,  [[ naics-Info-r12 NAICS-AssistanceInfo-r12  OPTIONAL  -- Need ON  ]]}SegmentationAllowed-Config Information ElementSegmentationAllowed-Config ::=    SEQUENCE{ Tx-Segmentation-Threshold::=CHOICE{   percentile INTEGER(1..100),   tbSize ENUMERATED {tbSize1,tbSize2, tbSize3, etc.} }, autonomous-truncation-handling :: = CHOICE{  resegmentation-free-handling,   resegmentation-allowed-handling } }

RadioResourceConfigDedicated Field Descriptions MACSegmentationCOnfigFor the UE MACSegmentationConfig is used to indicate whether data forthe UE is allowed to be segmented

SegmentationAllowed-Config Field Descriptions  Tx-Segmentation-Threshold The threshold is used to determine attransmitting a MAC PDU if segmentation should be performed within agiven MAC PDU autonomous-truncation-handling This is used to determineif the received truncated MAC SDU should be identified as padding orsegment Percentile The bandwidth waste threshold represented as apercentile. Value means the percentile of the wasted space. When thebandwidth waste without segments is larger than this value segmentationshould be performed tbSize The size of transport block threshold. Valueis in bytes, means the transport block size. When the transport blocksize is larger than this value segmentation should be performed, i.e. Txmultiplexes segment if the estimated TB size is smaller than tbSize.

FIG. 6 is a diagram 600 illustrating an example of various MAC subheaderconfigurations according to aspects of the present disclosure. A MACsubheader may be included in a MAC PDU. (The description provided herewith reference to FIG. 6 emphasizes various aspects related to the MACsubheaders. Various examples of the MAC PDUs that possibly contain suchMAC subheaders are illustrated in FIGS. 7-8 and described furtherbelow.)

Generally, MAC subheaders are generally octet-aligned. The MACsubheaders and the MAC SDUs may have variable sizes. Each MAC subheadermay correspond to a MAC SDU, a MAC control element, or padding. MACcontrol elements may be placed before any MAC data SDU. Although variousnon-limiting examples of MAC subheaders are illustrated in FIG. 6, oneof ordinary skill in the art will understand that the MAC subheaders maybe provided in various configurations without deviating from the scopeof the present disclosure.

In some configurations, the MAC subheader may include one or more of thesubfields shown in Table 2 (below).

TABLE 2 Field Meaning Length R Reserved 1 LCID Logical Channel ID 5 FFormat field 2 (00: 7 bits L, 01: 15 bits L, 10: 23 bits L, 11: No L,i.e. 1 byte sub-header) SF Segmentation Flag 1 (SF = 1 indicatessegmented data) L Length of data in octets 7, 15, 23

The reserved (R) field may have a length or size of one (1) bit. TheLogical Channel ID (LCID) field may have a length or size of five (5)bits. The LCID field may identify the logical channel instance of thecorresponding MAC SDU or the type of the corresponding MAC controlelement or padding. There may be one LCID field for each MAC SDU, MACcontrol element, or padding included in the MAC PDU. In some examples,LCID=11111 indicates padding longer than single-byte at the end of theMAC PDU.

A non-limiting example of various LCID values for a DL shared channel(SCH) is provided below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Index LCID Value 00000 Common Control Channel (CCCH) 00001-01010Identity of the Logical Channel 01011-11101 Reserved 11110 SegmentationAllowed 11111 Padding

A non-limiting example of various LCID values for an UL SCH is providedbelow in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Index LCID Value 00000 CCCH 00001-01010 Identity of the LogicalChannel 01011-11101 Reserved 11110 Segmentation Allowed 11111 Padding

The Format (F) field may have a length or size of two (2) bits. The Ffield may indicate the length or size of the Length (L) field. There mayexist one F field per MAC SDU subheader. If the maximum length or sizeof the MAC SDU or variable-sized MAC control element is less than 128bytes, then the value of the F field may be set to a value of 00. If themaximum length or size of the MAC SDU or variable-sized MAC controlelement is more than 128 bytes and less than 32768 bytes, then the valueof the F field may be set to a value of 01. Otherwise, the value of theF field may be set to a value of 10. F=11 indicates that no L fieldfollows the F field.

A non-limiting example of various F field values is provided below inTable 4.

TABLE 5 Index Size of Length Field (in bits) 00 7 01 15 10 23 11 NoLength Field

The L field may have various sizes or lengths, such as 7, 15, or 23bits. The size of the L field may be indicated by the F field (describedabove). The L field may indicate the length or size of the correspondingMAC SDU or variable-sized MAC control element in bytes. There may existone L field per MAC PDU subheader except for the padding subheader, andsubheaders corresponding to fixed-sized MAC control elements.

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of a MAC PDU assembledwithout segmentation according to aspects of the present disclosure. Inother words, FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a MAC PDU assembled duringa segmentation-free operation. Put in another way, the MAC PDUillustrated in FIG. 7 is assembled when the apparatus (e.g., schedulingentity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104) determines to disallowsegmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer). Various aspects pertaining tothe MAC control element and MAC subheader are described above withreference to FIG. 6 and therefore will not be repeated. Generally, a MACPDU includes zero or more MAC subheader and control element pairsfollowed by one or more MAC subheader and MAC data service data unit(SDU) pairs, and possibly padding (e.g., single-byte padding, two-bytepadding, etc.). In FIG. 7, the MAC data SDUs (e.g., packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP) SDUs) 702, 704 are assembled as MAC dataSDUs (e.g., PDCP PDUs) 712, 714 without segmentation. The MAC PDU maysometimes include padding 718. If the MAC PDU includes padding 718, apreceding MAC subheader 716 may be included, and the LCID field in thatpreceding MAC subheader 716 may have a value of 11111. As described ingreater detail above with reference to FIG. 6 and Table 3, LCID=11111indicates padding at the end of the MAC PDU.

In comparison to FIG. 7, FIG. 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating an exampleof a MAC PDU assembled with segmentation according to aspects of thepresent disclosure. In other words, FIG. 8 illustrates an example of aMAC PDU assembled during a segmentation-allowed operation. Put inanother way, the MAC PDU illustrated in FIG. 8 is assembled when theapparatus (e.g., scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104)determines to allow segmentation (e.g., at the RLC/MAC layer). Variousaspects pertaining to the MAC control element and MAC subheader aredescribed above with reference to FIG. 6 and therefore will not berepeated. In FIG. 8, the MAC data SDUs 804, 808 (e.g., RLC segment PDUs)are assembled as segments of MAC data SDUs (e.g., PDCP PDUs) 814, 818 inthe MAC PDU. The MAC subheaders 802, 806 corresponding to the MAC dataSDUs (e.g., RLC segment PDUs) 804, 808 may each have an SF field havinga value of 1. As described in greater detail above with reference toFIG. 6 and Table 2, SF=1 indicates segmented data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of processes associatedwith assembly of the MAC PDU with segmentation (e.g., as described abovewith reference to FIG. 8) according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. Such processes may be performed by any apparatus configuredfor wireless communication, such as the scheduling entity 102 and/or thesubordinate entity 104. At block 902, the apparatus may perform MACmultiplexing of MAC SDUs from logical channel queues. At block 904, theapparatus may determine whether to perform segmentation (orre-segmentation). Even when segmentation is allowed, the apparatus maytake steps to minimize segmentation of PDCP PDUs as much as possible. Onthe one hand, if the apparatus determines that segmentation isappropriate at block 904, then the apparatus may perform RLC processingat block 906. After performing RLC processing at block 906, theapparatus may generate an RLC PDU to which a MAC subheader is added atblock 908. On the other hand, if the apparatus determines thatsegmentation is not appropriate (e.g., not necessary) at block 904, thenthe apparatus may refrain from performing one or more processes at theRLC layer and add a MAC subheader at block 908. After adding the MACsubheader at block 908, the apparatus may perform MAC assembly at block910. MAC assembly may result in the generation of the MAC PDU, such asthe MAC PDU illustrated in FIG. 8 and described further above. Whilethis process 900 illustrates one example where segmentation operationsare captured at the RLC layer, it is to be understood that this ismerely one example. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatsimple modifications to this process 900, e.g., in an example wheresegmentation operations are captured at the MAC layer, fall within thescope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram 1000 illustrating an example of truncation of a MACPDU at the PHY layer (e.g., during assembly of the PDU or duringtransmission of the PDU) according to aspects of the present disclosure.In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, a number of packets (e.g.,packets 1, 2, 3, 4) are provided from the PDCP layer of a transmittingapparatus to the MAC layer of the transmitting apparatus. However, insome circumstances, not all of those packets (e.g., packets 1, 2, 3, 4)may fit into a single transmission at the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus. In such circumstances, the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus may perform autonomous truncation of at least a portion of oneor more of the packet. For example, the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus may truncate a portion of packet 4, as illustrated in FIG. 10.Subsequently, the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatus may transmitthe one or more packets and any truncated portions thereof. Asillustrated in FIG. 10, the PHY layer of the receiving apparatus mayreceive (untruncated) packets 1, 2, 3 and truncated packet 4.

In some examples, truncation may be performed during a segmentation-freeoperation, which is described in greater detail above. During asegmentation-free operation, the truncated packet(s) may be recognizedas padding, as indicated in FIG. 10. For example, the PHY layer of thereceiving apparatus may recognize that packet 4 is truncated and,therefore, should be ignored as padding. Accordingly, the MAC layer ofthe receiving device ignores the truncated packet(s) (e.g., packet 4) aspadding and passes the untruncated packets (e.g., packets 1, 2, 3) tothe PDCP layer of the receiving apparatus for further processing. If thePHY layer of the transmitting apparatus truncates at least a portion ofone or more portions of the packets, the PHY layer of the transmittinglayer may communicate information pertaining to the truncation to theMAC layer of the transmitting apparatus. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 10, the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatus may communicateinformation indicating the truncated bytes to the MAC layer of thetransmitting apparatus. This information may be utilized by the MAClayer of the transmitting apparatus to reschedule retransmission of theentirety of the truncated packet (e.g., packet 4). Accordingly, asillustrated in FIG. 10, the formerly-truncated packet 4 is subsequentlyprovided (in its entirety) from the MAC layer of the transmittingapparatus to the PHY layer of transmitting apparatus. In somecircumstances, the subsequently-transmitted packet (e.g., packet 4) mayhave a relatively high priority in its transmission opportunity. Inother words, the subsequently-transmitted packet (e.g., packet 4) mayhave a priority that is relatively higher than a priority of one or moreother packets (not shown) that may be concurrently ready fortransmission.

In some other examples, truncation may be performed during asegmentation-allowed operation, which is described in greater detailabove. During a segmentation-allowed operation, the truncated packet(s)(e.g., packet 4) may be (i) recognized as padding and/or (ii) recognizedas a segment by the receiving apparatus. On the one hand, if thetruncated packet(s) (e.g., packet 4) is recognized as padding by thereceiving apparatus, the truncated packet(s) (e.g., packet 4) may bediscarded and/or ignored by the receiving apparatus, as similarlydescribed above with reference to FIG. 10. Such an operation maysometimes be characterized as a resegmentation-free operation.Non-limiting examples of resegmentation-free operations are described ingreater detail below in relation to FIG. 11. On the other hand, if thetruncated packet(s) (e.g., packet 4) is recognized as a segment by thereceiving apparatus, such an operation may sometimes be characterized asa resegmentation-allowed operation. Non-limiting examples ofresegmentation-allowed operations are described in greater detail belowwith reference to FIGS. 12-14.

FIG. 11 is a diagram 1100 illustrating another example of truncation ofa MAC PDU at the PHY layer according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. In part, the example illustrated in FIG. 11 shows anoperation that may sometimes be referred to as a resegmentation-freeoperation. Generally, in a resegmentation-free operation, one or moretruncated packet(s) are recognized as padding by the receiving apparatusand thus are discarded and/or ignored by the receiving apparatus, assimilarly described above with reference to FIG. 10. However, incomparison to the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the exampleillustrated in FIG. 11 depicts that at least one of the packets issegmented at an intermediate layer of the transmitting apparatus. Forinstance, packet 4 is segmented into packet segment 4-1 and packetsegment 4-2 at the RLC layer of the transmitting apparatus.

The first packet segment (e.g., packet segment 4-1) is provided to theMAC layer of the transmitting apparatus. In some circumstances, not allof those components (e.g., packets 1, 2, 3 and packet segment 4-1) mayfit into a single transmission at the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus. In such circumstances, the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus may perform autonomous truncation of at least a portion of oneor more of those components. For example, the PHY layer of thetransmitting apparatus may truncate a portion of packet 4-1, asindicated in FIG. 11. Subsequently, the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus may transmit the one or more packets and any truncatedsegments thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 11, the PHY layer of thereceiving apparatus may receive (untruncated) packets 1, 2, 3 andtruncated packet segment 4-1. The receiving apparatus may recognize thetruncated packet segment(s) (e.g., packet segment 4-1) as padding.Accordingly, the receiving apparatus may ignore and/or discard suchtruncated segment(s) (e.g., packet segment 4-1). Subsequently, thereceiving apparatus may pass the other portions of the transmission(e.g., packets 1, 2, 3) to upper layers (e.g., the RLC layer, PDCPlayer, etc.) for further processing.

If the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatus truncates at least aportion of a packet segment, the PHY layer of the transmitting layer maycommunicate information pertaining to the truncation to the MAC layer ofthe transmitting apparatus. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, thePHY layer of the transmitting apparatus may communicate informationindicating the truncated bytes to the MAC layer of the transmittingapparatus. This information may be utilized by the MAC layer of thetransmitting apparatus to reschedule retransmission of the entirety ofthe truncated packet segment (e.g., packet segment 4-1). Accordingly, asillustrated in FIG. 11, the formerly-truncated packet segment 4-1 issubsequently provided (in its entirety) from the MAC layer of thetransmitting apparatus to the PHY layer of transmitting apparatus. Thatpacket segment (e.g., packet segment 4-1) may also be combined withanother packet segment (e.g., packet segment 4-2, which was previouslysegmented at the RLC layer) and/or one or more other packets (e.g.,packets 5, 6, 7). Such a combination (e.g., including packet segments4-1, 4-2 and packets 5, 6, 7) may be transmitted from the PHY layer ofthe transmitting apparatus and received at the PHY layer of thereceiving apparatus. At an intermediary layer (e.g., the RLC layer) ofthe receiving apparatus, the packet segments (e.g., packet segments 4-1,4-2) may be assembled together to generate an unsegmented packet (e.g.,packet 4), as illustrated in FIG. 11.

FIG. 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating yet another example of truncationof a MAC PDU at the PHY layer according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. In part, the example illustrated in FIG. 12 shows anoperation that may sometimes be referred to as a resegmentation-allowedoperation. Generally, in a resegmentation-allowed operation, one or moretruncated packet(s) are recognized as a segment of a packet and thus arenot automatically discarded and/or ignored by the receiving apparatus.In comparison to the example illustrated in FIG. 11, the exampleillustrated in FIG. 12 depicts that at least one of the packets (e.g.,packet 4) is not segmented at an intermediate layer (e.g., RLC/MAClayer) of the transmitting apparatus. For example, packet 4 is notsegmented into packet segment 4-1 and packet segment 4-2 at the RLClayer of the transmitting apparatus; instead, packet 4 is communicatedin its entirety to the MAC layer of the transmitting apparatus, asillustrated in FIG. 12.

However, in some circumstances, not all of those packets (e.g., packets1, 2, 3, 4) may fit into a single transmission at the PHY layer of thetransmitting apparatus. In such circumstances, the PHY layer of thetransmitting apparatus may perform autonomous truncation of at least aportion of one or more of the packets. For example, the PHY layer of thetransmitting apparatus may truncate a portion of packet 4, asillustrated in FIG. 12. Subsequently, the PHY layer of the transmittingapparatus may transmit the one or more packets and any truncatedsegments thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the PHY layer of thereceiving apparatus may receive (untruncated) packets 1, 2, 3 andtruncated packet segment 4-1. The receiving apparatus may recognize thetruncated packet segment(s) (e.g., packet segment 4-1) as a segment of apacket (e.g., not padding) and thus may not automatically discard and/orignore it.

In circumstances where the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatustruncates at least a portion of a packet segment, the PHY layer of thetransmitting layer may communicate information pertaining to thetruncation to the MAC layer of the transmitting apparatus. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 12, the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatusmay communicate certain information to the MAC layer which may in turncommunicate such information to the RLC layer. Such information mayindicate a size or length of the portion of the packet (e.g., the packetsegment) that was truncated at the PHY layer. At the RLC layer, thetransmitting apparatus may generate a packet segment based on suchinformation. For example, the transmitting apparatus may generate apacket segment (e.g., packet segment 4-2) that includes the truncatedbytes from the previous transmission. For instance, as illustrated inFIG. 12, a resegmentation operation at the RLC layer may generate apacket segment 4-2 that includes the truncated bytes from thepreviously-truncated portion of packet 4. Subsequently, the transmittingapparatus may provide that packet segment 4-2 from the RLC layer to theMAC layer, which may combine it with other packets (e.g., packets 5, 6,7) for transmission to the receiving apparatus. At the receivingapparatus (e.g., at the RLC layer), some of the packet segments (e.g.,packet segments 4-1, 4-2) may be combined together to form anunsegmented packet (e.g., packet 4).

A number of notable distinctions may exist between aresegmentation-allowed operation and a resegmentation-free operation.FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a resegmentation-allowed operationaccording to some aspects. In comparison, FIG. 11 illustrates an exampleof resegmentation-free operation according to some aspects. As describedabove with reference to FIG. 11, the resegmentation-free operation mayinvolve the retransmission of the entire truncated packet (e.g., packet4-1 illustrated in FIG. 11). However, as described above with referenceto FIG. 12, the resegmentation-allowed operation may not necessitate theretransmission of the entire truncated packet (e.g., packet 4illustrated in FIG. 12). Instead, the resegmentation-allowed operationmay involve the retransmission of solely the truncated bytes (e.g., thetruncated bytes of packet segment 4-1, as illustrated in FIG. 12). Assuch, the untruncated bytes (e.g., the portion of packet 4 that does notinclude the truncated bytes of packet segment 4-1, as illustrated inFIG. 12) do not necessitate retransmission.

FIG. 13 is a diagram 1300 illustrating yet another example of truncationof a MAC PDU at the PHY layer according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. In part, the example illustrated in FIG. 13 shows anoperation that may sometimes be referred to as a resegmentation-allowedoperation. Some aspects illustrated in FIG. 13 are similar to aspectsillustrated in FIG. 12. The description of such similar aspects will notbe repeated here for the sake of brevity. There are, however, somenotable distinctions between the example provided with respect to FIG.12 relative to the example provided with respect to FIG. 13. In theexample provided with respect to FIG. 12, the truncated packet is thelast packet in the MAC PDU. In comparison, the example provided withrespect to FIG. 13 illustrates that the truncation does not necessarilyhave to occur at the last packet. For instance, the truncated packet maybe the penultimate (e.g., second-to-last) packet in the MAC PDU. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 13, a first segment of packet 3 (e.g., notpacket 4, as is the case in the example illustrated in FIG. 12) istruncated at the PHY layer. Accordingly, a subsequent transmission mayinclude a MAC PDU that includes the truncated portions (e.g., packetsegment 3-1 and packet 4) as well as any other packets (e.g., packets 5,6) ready for transmission. Although the example illustrated in FIG. 13shows the truncation occurring at the penultimate (e.g., second-to-last)packet in the MAC PDU, one of ordinary skill in the art will understandthat the truncation can occur at any portion or packet of the MAC PDUwithout necessarily deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram 1400 illustrating yet another example of truncationof a MAC PDU at the PHY layer according to aspects of the presentdisclosure. In part, the example illustrated in FIG. 14 shows anoperation that may sometimes be referred to as a resegmentation-allowedoperation. Some aspects illustrated in FIG. 14 are similar to aspectsillustrated in FIG. 12. The description of such similar aspects will notbe repeated here for the sake of brevity.

Notably, for illustrative purposes, FIG. 14 provides some non-limitingexamples of sizes or lengths of various packets in the illustrated MACPDUs. For example, FIG. 14 indicates that a particular packet (e.g.,packet 3) provided from the PDCP layer to the RLC layer of thetransmitting apparatus has a particular size (e.g., 200 bytes). At theRLC layer, the transmitting apparatus generates a segment (e.g., packetsegment 3-1) that has a smaller size (e.g., 100 bytes) than theunsegmented packet (e.g., packet 3). As illustrated in FIG. 14, thepacket segment (e.g., packet segment 3-1) may subsequently be truncatedat the PHY layer of the transmitting apparatus (e.g., during theassembly or transmission of the packet) when the entirety of that packetsegment (e.g., packet segment 3-1) cannot be accommodated in a singletransmission. In the example illustrated in FIG. 14, a portion (e.g., 50bytes) of that packet segment (e.g., packet segment 3-1) is truncated atthe PHY layer. Information pertaining to that truncated portion (e.g.,the size or length of the truncated portion) may be communicated fromthe PHY layer to the MAC layer, which in turn may communicate suchinformation to the RLC layer, as illustrated in FIG. 14. Based on suchinformation, the RLC layer of the transmitting apparatus maysubsequently assemble that truncated packet segment (e.g., the truncated50 bytes from the preceding MAC PDU) in addition to the remaining,untransmitted portion(s) (e.g., the remaining 150 bytes previouslyreceived at the RLC layer from the PDCP layer) of the correspondingpacket (e.g., packet 3 previously received at the RLC layer from thePDCP layer). Subsequently, the transmitting apparatus may provide thatpacket (e.g., packet segment 3-2 comprising 150 bytes) from the RLClayer to the MAC layer, which may combine it with other packets (e.g.,packets 4, 5) for transmission to the receiving apparatus. At thereceiving apparatus (e.g., at the RLC layer), some of the packets (e.g.,packet segment 3-1 [50 bytes] and packet segment 3-2 [150 bytes]) may becombined together to form an unsegmented packet (e.g., packet 3 [200bytes]).

One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the terms usedherein may have various meanings and definitions without necessarilydeviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Although additionaldescription maybe provided herein with reference to some terms, suchadditional description is not intended to necessarily limit the scope,meaning, definition, nor applicability of such terms. As used herein,the term ‘packet’ may refer to a grouping of data and/or information.One non-limiting example of a packet is a MAC SDU; however, one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that various other grouping ofdata and/or information may also be characterized as a packet withoutdeviating from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, theterm ‘frame’ may refer to a grouping of data and/or information thatincludes at least one packet, which is described in greater detailherein. One non-limiting example of a frame is a MAC PDU; however, oneof ordinary skill in the art will understand that various othergroupings of data and/or information that includes at least one packetwithout deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. As usedherein, the term ‘configuration’ may refer to any parameter, setting,threshold, value, criteria, requirement, condition, prerequisite,trigger, and/or other suitable attribute associated with a determinationof whether to segment one or more packets during assembly of a frame. Asused herein, the term ‘segmentation’ (and similar terms) may refer to aprocess and/or method of separating and/or dividing any portion of dataand/or information (e.g., a packet, which is described in greater detailherein) into two or more subportions of such data and/or information,and possibly also adding additional information (e.g., a subheader) toat least one of those subportions. As used herein, the term ‘truncation’may refer to a shortening in length and/or reduction in size of any dataand/or information (e.g., of a packet and/or a frame, which aredescribed in greater detail herein), thereby resulting in that dataand/or information being smaller in size and/or shorter length than itwould be otherwise (e.g., without the truncation). As used herein, theterm ‘padding’ may refer to any data and/or information that may beignored during processing. Padding may have any value and the MAC entitythat receives that padding may ignore that padding. If included, paddinggenerally exists at an end portion of a frame (e.g., MAC PDU). Whenpadding exists at an end portion of the frame (e.g., MAC PDU), zero ormore padding bytes are allowed. In some instances, padding may bepreceded by a padding header. However, when single-byte padding ortwo-byte padding is utilized, a padding header may not be used (becausethe minimum header size is two bytes). As used herein, the term‘operation’ may refer to one or more processes, methods, steps, actions,inactions, and/or modes implemented in accordance to aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a diagram 1500 illustrating an example of various methodsand/or processes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, such methods and/or processes may be performed by thescheduling entity 102 and/or the subordinate entity 104. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that such methods and/or processes maybe performed by any other suitable apparatus without deviating from thescope of the present disclosure.

In some configurations, at block 1502, the apparatus may establish aradio connection for wireless communication. For example, the schedulingentity 102 and/or the subordinate entity 104 may utilize various aspectsdescribe above with reference to any one or more of FIGS. 1-5 toestablish a radio connection with one another. One of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate that the operation at block 1502 may be optionalin some configuration. Without necessarily deviating from the scope ofthe present disclosure, some aspects described herein may be implementedwithout performing the operation at block 1502. At block 1504, theapparatus may determine a configuration for whether to segment one ormore packets for the wireless communication using the established radioconnection. In some configurations, determining the configuration forwhether to perform segmentation (e.g., operating according to asegmentation-free mode or a segmentation-allowed mode) may be based on aconfiguration message, such as the configuration message 502 describedin greater detail above with reference to FIG. 5. For example, referringto FIG. 5, the scheduling entity 102 may transmit a configuration (e.g.,in a configuration message 502) to the subordinate entity 104. Asanother example, the subordinate entity 104 may receive an indication(e.g., in the configuration message 502) from the scheduling entity 102.In some configurations, the configurations message 502 may be a MAC CE,which may be transmitted any time that a connection is available. Insome configurations, the configuration message 502 may be an RRCconnection reconfiguration message, which may be transmitted upon orafter establishing the connection. When the configuration message 502 isthe RRC connection reconfiguration message, the segmentation-allowedconfiguration may be applied when the corresponding radio bearer isestablished (e.g., in the middle of the radio bearer setup procedure).Accordingly, in some configurations, the RRC segmentation-allowedconfiguration may take place either in the connection establishment orthe connection reconfiguration procedures.

At block 1506, the apparatus may communicate the one or more packetsbased on the determined configuration. In some examples, theconfiguration includes one or more criteria, and the apparatus (e.g.,scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104) may be configuredto communicate the one or more packets based on the determinedconfiguration. Non-limiting examples of such criteria may include atransport block size threshold, a bandwidth waste percentile threshold,a data rate threshold, a packet size threshold, and/or a packet wastepercentile threshold, as described in greater detail herein.Segmentation may be disallowed when the one or more criteria issatisfied, and segmentation may be allowed when the one or more criteriaare unsatisfied. In some examples, the configuration is associated witha data flow. As described in greater detail above, a particular dataflow may include one or more bearers (e.g., radio bearers), and aparticular bearer may be associated with one or more data flows. Twobearers may have different thresholds for determining whether to performsegmentation. For example, one bearer may have a particular thresholdvalue (e.g., x) while another bearer may have a different thresholdvalue (e.g., y, wherein x≠y). As such, it may be possible that onebearer sometimes performs segmentation while another bearer does notperform segmentation.

FIG. 16 is a diagram 1600 illustrating an example of various methodsand/or processes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, such methods and/or processes may be performed by thescheduling entity 102 and/or the subordinate entity 104. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that such methods and/or processes maybe performed by any other suitable apparatus without deviating from thescope of the present disclosure.

At block 1602, the apparatus may assemble a first frame comprising oneor more packets. For example, the scheduling entity 102 and/orsubordinate entity 104 may assemble the MAC PDU illustrated in FIG. 8during a segmentation-allowed operation. As another example, thescheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104 may assemble the MACPDU illustrated in FIG. 7 during a segmentation-free operation. During asegmentation-free operation, the assembly of the first frame may includebypassing one or more operations of an intermediate layer (e.g., the RLClayer or the MAC layer). Such an operation may include the segmentationof one or more upper-layer packets (e.g., packets from a layer higherthan the RLC layer or MAC layer). In some examples, the first frame maylack segmentation when one or more criteria are satisfied. Additionaldescription pertaining to such criteria is provided above and thereforewill not be repeated. After assembly of the first frame, the apparatusmay transmit the frame at block 1604.

At block 1606, the apparatus may determine whether a portion of one ormore packets was truncated during the assembling or transmitting of thefirst frame. For example, the scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinateentity 104 may determine whether a portion of one or more of the MACSDUs in the MAC PDUs illustrated in any of FIGS. 10-14 was truncated atthe PHY layer during the assembly or transmission of that MAC PDU. Afterdetermining that a portion of one or more packets was truncated duringthe assembling or transmitting of the first frame, at block 1608, theapparatus may transmit a second frame comprising at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame. For example, asalso illustrated in FIGS. 10-14, the scheduling entity 102 and/orsubordinate entity 104 may subsequently transmit another MAC PDU thatincludes at least the portion of the previously-transmitted MAC PDU thatwas truncated by the PHY layer. In some cases, the entire packet (ofwhich a portion was truncated) is retransmitted, as described above withreference to FIG. 10 (e.g., packet 4) and FIG. 11 (e.g., packet segment4-1). In some other cases, only the truncated portion of the packet isretransmitted, as described above with reference to FIG. 12 (e.g., onlytruncated packet segment 4-1 is retransmitted), FIG. 13 (e.g., onlytruncated packet segment 3-2 and truncated packet 4 are retransmitted),and FIG. 14 (e.g., only the truncated 50 bytes of packet segment 3-1 areretransmitted).

FIG. 17 is a diagram 1700 illustrating an example of various methodsand/or processes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, such methods and/or processes may be performed by thescheduling entity 102 and/or the subordinate entity 104. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that such methods and/or processes maybe performed by any other suitable apparatus without deviating from thescope of the present disclosure.

At block 1702, the apparatus may receive a first frame comprising one ormore packets. As an example, the scheduling entity 102 and/orsubordinate entity 104 may receive the MAC PDU illustrated in FIG. 8and/or the MAC PDU illustrated in FIG. 7. At block 1704, the apparatusmay determine that a portion of the one or more packets is truncated.For example, the scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104 maydetermine that a portion of one or more of the MAC SDUs in the MAC PDUsillustrated in any of FIGS. 10-14 was truncated. In some examples, theapparatus may determine that a portion of the one or more packets istruncated upon determining that a packet in the first frame has a lengththat does not match a length indicated in a sub-header of the packet(e.g., in the L field of the MAC subheader described above withreference to Table 2). After determining that a portion of one or morepackets was truncated, at block 1706, the apparatus may determinewhether to ignore as padding at least the truncated portion of the oneor more packets of the first frame. For example, the apparatus mayignore as padding at least the truncated portion of a packet illustratedin FIG. 10 (e.g., truncated packet 4 ignored as padding) and FIG. 11(e.g., truncated packet segment 4-1 ignored as padding). In somecircumstances, the apparatus may determine whether to ignore thetruncated portion as padding based on one or more criteria. Non-limitingexamples of such criteria may include a transport block size threshold,a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a data rate threshold, a packetsize threshold, and/or a packet waste percentile threshold, as describedin greater detail herein.

In some configurations, at block 1708, the apparatus may receive asecond frame comprising at least the truncated portion of the one ormore packets of the first frame. For example, the apparatus may receiveanother MAC PDU, as illustrated in FIG. 10 (e.g., truncated packet 4 issubsequently retransmitted in another MAC PDU) and FIG. 11 (e.g.,truncated packet segment 4-1 is subsequently retransmitted in anotherMAC PDU that also contains packet segment 4-2 and packets 5, 6, 7).

FIG. 18 is a diagram 1800 illustrating an example of various methodsand/or processes according to aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, such methods and/or processes may be performed by thescheduling entity 102 and/or the subordinate entity 104. One of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that such methods and/or processes maybe performed by any other suitable apparatus without deviating from thescope of the present disclosure.

At block 1802, the apparatus may determine whether to select between asegmentation-free operation and a segmentation-allowed operation. Asused herein, the term ‘operation’ may encompass similar terms, such asmode, mode of operation, modality, function, and process, withoutdeviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Also, as usedherein, the term ‘determine’ (and similar terms, such as ‘determining’and ‘determination’) may be encompass similar terms, such as decide,without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.Additionally, as used herein, the term ‘select’ (and similar terms, suchas ‘selecting’ and ‘selection’) may be encompass similar terms, such asswitch, elect, and choose, without deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure. In some configurations, the determination (describedabove) may be based on one or more criteria. As described in greaterdetail above, such criteria may include a transport block sizethreshold, a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a data ratethreshold, a packet size threshold, a packet waste percentile threshold,and/or a processing load threshold. In some circumstances, someinformation relevant to the determination (described above) may beinitially available only at another apparatus. For example, informationassociated with the processing load threshold may be initially availableonly at the subordinate entity 104. As such, the subordinate entity 104may communicate (e.g., transmit) such information to the schedulingentity 102.

Subsequently, at block 1804, the apparatus may communicate (e.g.,transmit) an indication to a peer entity, wherein the indicationincludes information associated with the determination. For example, oneapparatus (e.g., subordinate entity 104) may transmit an indication toanother apparatus (e.g., scheduling entity 102), and the indication mayinclude information indicating the selected mode or operation (e.g.,segmentation-free operation or segmentation-allowed operation). In someconfigurations, the indication may be included in a MAC CE. In someconfigurations, in-band signaling may be utilized for communicating theMAC CE. In some configurations, the MAC CE may include information forconfiguring (or de-configuring, re-configuring, etc.) various parametersand/or settings (e.g., one or more criteria and/or thresholds)associated with the determination (described above). For example, anapparatus receiving the indication may configure (or de-configure,re-configure, etc.) various parameters and/or settings (e.g., one ormore criteria and/or thresholds) associated with the determination(described above) based on information included in the MAC CE. In someconfigurations, the determination (described above) may be activated (ordeactivated) based on the MAC CE. For example, an apparatus receivingthe indication may activate (or deactivate) the determination (describedabove) based on information included in the MAC CE.

The methods and/or processes described with reference to any one or moreof FIGS. 15-18 are provided for illustrative purposes and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The methodsand/or processes described with reference to any one or more of FIGS.15-18 may be performed in sequences different from those illustratedtherein without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.Additionally, some or all of the methods and/or processes described withreference to any one or more of FIGS. 15-18 may be performedindividually and/or together without deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure. It is to be understood that the specific order orhierarchy of steps in the methods disclosed is an illustration ofexemplary processes. Based upon design preferences, it is understoodthat the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods may berearranged. The accompanying method claims present elements of thevarious steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to thespecific order or hierarchy presented unless specifically recitedtherein.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating various examples of a MAC CE accordingto aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the MAC CE maybe in the form of a MAC CE subheader 1902. In the example illustrated inFIG. 19, the MAC CE subheader 1902 includes eight (8) bits, wherein thefirst and second bits correspond to R fields, the third bit correspondsto a Segmentation Allowed (SA) field, and the remaining five bitscorrespond to an LCID field. The R field and LCID field are described ingreater detail above. In some examples, the R field may have a value ofzero (0). A value of 11110 in the LCID field may indicate that asubheader contains the SA field. In other words, an apparatus (e.g.,scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104) that receives asubheader identifies it as a subheader that contains an SA field whenthe LCID field has a value of 11110. In some configurations, the SAfield may indicate whether segmentation is allowed. For example, the SAfield indicates that segmentation is allowed when the SA field has avalue of one (1), and the SA field indicates that segmentation isdisallowed when the SA field has a value of zero (0). For example, whensent by the scheduling entity 102, the SA field may indicate whethersegmentation is allowed for UL MAC PDUs.

Based the value of the SA field, the subordinate entity 104 maydetermine whether to segment a packet for an UL transmission. In someconfigurations, the SA field may indicate whether segmentation isallowed on the PDU (e.g., the PDU associated with the MAC CE containingthat SA field). For example, based on the value of the SA field, theapparatus (e.g., scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104)may determine whether to ignore any segments that were received as aresult of PHY autonomous truncation. These examples are provided forillustrative purposes and are not intended to necessarily limit thescope of the present disclosure. Additional and/or alternative fields,configurations, arrangements, lengths, and/or sizes may be implementedwithout necessarily deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

In some other examples, the MAC CE may be in the form of a MAC CE datafield 1904, 1906. In one example illustrated in FIG. 19, the MAC CE datafield 1904 includes a plurality of bits (B₁-B_(n)), which may sometimesbe referred to as a bitmap, a bitstream, or a sequence of bits. The MACCE data field 1904 may have any plural number of bits without deviatingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In some examples, the MAC CEdata field 1904 may have eight (8) bits, but such examples are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Each bit in theMAC CE data field 1904 may have a particular value (e.g., zero (0) orone (1)). The value may indicate whether segmentation is allowed. Inother words, the value may be used by the apparatus (e.g., schedulingentity 102 and/or subordinate entity 104) to determine whether toperform segmentation. In some examples, a value of one (1) may indicatethat segmentation is allowed (e.g., segmentation-allowedoperation/mode), and a value of zero (0) may indicate that segmentationis disallowed (e.g., segmentation-free operation/mode).

In some configurations, a particular bit may correspond to a particularlogical channel. For instance, each bit may correspond to a differentlogical channel. For example, a first bit (B₁) may indicate whethersegmentation is allowed for a first logical channel, and a second bit(B₂) may indicate whether segmentation is allowed for a second logicalchannel. In some other configurations, a particular bit may correspondto a particular logical channel group. For instance, each bit maycorrespond to a different logical channel group. For example, a firstbit (B₁) may indicate whether segmentation is allowed for a firstlogical channel group, and a second bit (B₂) may indicate whethersegmentation is allowed for a second logical channel group. Theseexamples are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended tonecessarily limit the scope of the present disclosure. Additional and/oralternative fields, configurations, arrangements, lengths, and/or sizesmay be implemented without necessarily deviating from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

In another example illustrated in FIG. 19, the MAC CE data field 1906includes a plurality of bits (B₁-B_(n)), wherein only one of the bits(B_(e)) includes the SA field. In some examples, one or more of theother bits may correspond to R fields, which may have a value of zero(0). The single bit (B_(e)) having the SA field may indicate whethersegmentation is allowed for all of the established logical channels atthe entity or apparatus (e.g., scheduling entity 102 and/or subordinateentity 104) that received the MAC CE. In other words, a value of one (1)in the SA field may indicate that segmentation is allowed (e.g.,segmentation-allowed operation/mode) for all of the established logicalchannels, and a value of zero (0) in the SA field may indicate thatsegmentation is disallowed (e.g., segmentation-free operation/mode) forall of the established logical channels. Although the exampleillustrated in FIG. 19 illustrates that such a bit is sequentially thelast bit (B_(e)) of the plurality of bits (B₁-B_(n)), one of ordinaryskill in the art will understand that such a bit may be in any otherorder, chronology, sequence, and/or arrangement without necessarilydeviating from the scope of the present disclosure. In some examples,the MAC CE data field 1906 may have eight (8) bits, but such examplesare not intended to necessarily limit the scope of the presentdisclosure. These examples are provided for illustrative purposes.Additional and/or alternative fields, configurations, arrangements,lengths, and/or sizes may be implemented without necessarily deviatingfrom the scope of the present disclosure.

Additional description pertaining to the present disclosure is providedin the Appendix filed concurrently herewith. The description herein isprovided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the variousaspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principlesdefined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are notintended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to beaccorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims,wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers toone or more. A phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c;a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, b and c. All structural and functionalequivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughoutthis disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothingdisclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claimelement is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f),unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or,in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase“step for.”

1. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising: assemblinga first frame comprising one or more packets; transmitting the firstframe; determining whether a portion of one or more packets wastruncated during the assembling or transmitting of the first frame; andtransmitting a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the assembling the first frame comprises: bypassing one or moreoperations of a radio link control (RLC) layer or a medium accesscontrol (MAC) layer.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or moreoperations comprise segmenting one or more upper-layer packets.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first frame comprises one or more packetslacking segmentation when one or more criteria are satisfied.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the one or more criteria comprise at leastone of a transport block size threshold, a bandwidth waste percentilethreshold, a data rate threshold, a packet size threshold, a packetwaste percentile threshold, or a processing load threshold.
 6. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the one or more criteria are based oninformation received in at least one of a radio resource control (RRC)message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein each packet comprises a medium access control(MAC) service data unit (SDU), and wherein each frame comprises a MACprotocol data unit (PDU).
 8. A method of wireless communication, themethod comprising: receiving a first frame comprising one or morepackets; determining that a portion of one or more packets is truncated;and determining whether to ignore as padding at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: receiving a second frame comprising atleast the truncated portion of the one or more packets of the firstframe.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein determining that the portionof the one or more packets is truncated comprises: determining that apacket in the first frame has a first length that does not match asecond length indicated in a sub-header of the packet.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the determining whether to ignore the truncated portionas padding is based on one or more criteria.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the one or more criteria comprise at least one of a transportblock size threshold, a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a datarate threshold, a packet size threshold, a packet waste percentilethreshold, or a processing load threshold.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the one or more criteria are based on information received in atleast one of a radio resource control (RRC) message or a medium accesscontrol (MAC) control element (CE).
 14. The method of claim 8, whereineach packet comprises a medium access control (MAC) service data unit(SDU), and wherein each frame comprises a MAC protocol data unit (PDU).15. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatuscomprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor coupled to thetransceiver and the memory, the processor and the memory beingconfigured to: assemble a first frame comprising one or more packets;transmit the first frame; determine whether a portion of one or morepackets was truncated during the assembling or transmitting of the firstframe; and transmit a second frame comprising at least the truncatedportion of the one or more packets of the first frame.
 16. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the processor and the memory are further configuredto: bypass one or more operations of a radio link control (RLC) layer ora medium access control (MAC) layer.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16,wherein the one or more operations comprise segmenting one or moreupper-layer packets.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the firstframe comprises one or more packets lacking segmentation when one ormore criteria are satisfied.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein theone or more criteria comprise at least one of a transport block sizethreshold, a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a data ratethreshold, a packet size threshold, a packet waste percentile threshold,or a processing load threshold.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18, whereinthe one or more criteria are based on information received in at leastone of a radio resource control (RRC) message or a medium access control(MAC) control element (CE).
 21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein eachpacket comprises a medium access control (MAC) service data unit (SDU),and wherein each frame comprises a MAC protocol data unit (PDU).
 22. Anapparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatuscomprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor coupled to thetransceiver and the memory, the processor and the memory beingconfigured to: receive a first frame comprising one or more packets;determine that a portion of one or more packets is truncated; anddetermine whether to ignore as padding at least the truncated portion ofthe one or more packets of the first frame.
 23. The apparatus of claim22, wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:receive a second frame comprising at least the truncated portion of theone or more packets of the first frame.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22,wherein the processor and the memory are further configured to:determine that a packet in the first frame has a first length that doesnot match a second length indicated in a sub-header of the packet. 25.The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor and the memory arefurther configured to: determine whether to ignore the truncated portionas padding based on one or more criteria.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25,wherein the one or more criteria comprise at least one of a transportblock size threshold, a bandwidth waste percentile threshold, a datarate threshold, a packet size threshold, a packet waste percentilethreshold, or a processing load threshold.
 27. The apparatus of claim25, wherein the one or more criteria are based on information receivedin at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) message or a mediumaccess control (MAC) control element (CE).
 28. The apparatus of claim22, wherein each packet comprises a medium access control (MAC) servicedata unit (SDU), and wherein each frame comprises a MAC protocol dataunit (PDU).